ARISS: Ham Video now installed and ready for commissioning

2032 x carregado & 40 x vizualizado

The Ham Video transmitter has been installed in the Columbus module of the International Space Station March 6, 2014 at approximately 10.00 UTC.

The transmitter was powered on briefly and all control LEDs were nominal. Ham Video is declared ready for Commissioning.
The first Commissioning step is planned March 8, 2014. Using call sign OR4ISS, crew will power on the Ham Video transmitter in configuration 1:

– ARISS antenna 41
– Frequency 2.422 GHz
– Symbol rate 1.3 Ms/s

The transmission will start shortly before the pass of the ISS over Western Europe at approximately 13.27 UTC.

Acquisition of signal (AOS) at Matera ground station in south Italy will be at approximately 13.29 UTC.

Matera will receive the Ham Video signals with 3 different receivers. The output of each receiver will be web streamed over BATC channels ISS1, ISS2 and ISS3.

The ARISS ground station IK1SLD, located in Northern Italy, will also receive the Ham Video signals and stream the video over BATC channel ISS4.

– select ISS
– click on one of the ISS channels
– click on Multi screen selector
– select the channels you wish to watch
– click on Watch.

When multiscreen appears, volume is turned down by default. Turn the volume up using the volume control slider below the image.

During the pass, different configurations will be tested with ARISS antenna 41. After the pass, the Ham Video transmitter will stay powered on in configuration 1 (see above) till the following Commissioning step, which is planned Sunday March 9, 2014 at approximately 12.40 UTC.
For about 24 hours, the DATV signal will be transmitted permanently, but the camera will be powered off. The reason is, that the camera is battery powered and no provisions are made for frequent battery replacement. This mode is called “blank” transmission.

Sunday March 9, the transmission will start shortly before the pass of the ISS over Western Europe at approximately 12.39 UTC.
During Commissioning step 2, different configurations will again be tested, this time with ARISS antenna 43. The Matera ground station and IK1SLD will stream the video over the BATC server.

The plan is to resume blank transmission immediately after the pass over Matera and to continue permanent transmission for one week, till Sunday March 16, 2014. The frequency will remain 2.422 GHz, but antenna ARISS 43 will be used.

Participants using the Tutioune receiving software, developed by Jean Pierre Courjaud F6DZP, can record as well as stream detailed parameters of the received signal. Please see:http://www.vivadatv.org/